The first thing Khrx saw when he opened his eyes was a pair of horns. His VR drive was broken, torn off unnaturally. Then Khrx saw the pair of round brown eyes on the furry white and black face.

“He’s awake!”

“Can he save Mimi?”

“It’s too late for Mimi!”

“A cow?” Khrx asked and blinked. He looked around, but Anaheim was nowhere in sight. There were only three cows, staring at him with teary eyes. Chewed and frayed ropes lay on the ground by their feet.

“If he can’t free us, I’m going to jump out of the window.”

“It wasn’t Anaheim?” Khrx asked, glancing at the tattered helmet in his hands. “A cow pulled me out of [Resolution]?” His eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth.

“He’s mad! Moomoo, back away.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Moomoo,” Khrx said as he lunged forward and seized the cow’s horns. He twisted his body to the side and bent his back, dragging the cow to the ground. It let out a wail as it collapsed onto its side, causing the room to shake.

“Moomoo!” the other two cows shouted at the same time.

“Khrx!?” Anaheim’s voice came from the kitchen. She appeared moments later, wearing her bloody apron while still holding onto a meat cleaver. She dripped gore onto the ground. “What’s going on?”

“It’s the devil! Run! Jump out the window, run!” the cow that Khrx was holding shouted as it thrashed its legs. “Leave me behind!”

“I can’t leave you, Moomoo!” The brown cow ran towards Khrx while the remaining black and white cow ran towards the window. Khrx snorted as he whipped his tail, smacking the brown cow to the ground. It collapsed next to Moomoo with a pained cry.

“Mooo, you should’ve ran when you had the chance,” Moomoo said, tears in her eyes.

The brown cow struggled, but Khrx’s tail pressed against her neck, keeping her body glued to the ground. When she realized it was futile, she stopped struggling and smiled at her black and white companion. “I, I have something I must tell you.” The brown cow took in a deep breath. “I love you, Moomoo. I love you so much that I’m willing to die with you.”

“We’re both women!” Moomoo said, kicking the brown cow, Mooo. “I see you as a friend, nothing more!”

Khrx’s gaze traveled back and forth over the two cows. The third cow had tried to leap out the window, but its neck got stuck. Why were there cows in Anaheim’s living room? His anger faded, replaced by confusion. He smacked the sobbing brown cow’s cheek. “Stop crying. Rejection’s normal.”

Mooo’s eyes widened. “Ah? How does he know?”

“Khrx?” Anaheim asked as she approached him. The cows renewed their struggle, thrashing and wailing on the ground. “Let me take care of them real quick.” She raised the cleaver into the air.

“Wait!” Khrx said, throwing his body over Moomoo’s. “You can’t kill them.” He pointed at the third cow, who was still stuck in the window frame. “You can kill that one.”

Anaheim furrowed her brow but lowered her cleaver.

Khrx sighed. “If I know something’s name, I can’t eat it. Besides, their relationship is so tragic. Poor Mooo, rejected by Moomoo.”

Moomoo’s eyes lit up. “Our friend over there’s name is Meow.”

“Did the cow just meow?” Anaheim asked.

“That’s right, my name is Meow!” the third cow said.

Anaheim’s face paled, and she swung her cleaver, bisecting the third cow without even touching it. A rain of blood and intestines covered the living room. “Unnatural! Absolutely unnatural! Cows don’t meow!”

Khrx and the two cows stared at Anaheim. Khrx had even forgot to hold the cows down, but they weren’t moving. Anaheim placed her hands on her hips and glanced at Khrx. “Hmm? Want to tell me what’s going on now? I decided to make some lunch since Luke pushed me out of the game for three days. And I come outside to this?”

“This is Moomoo. This is Mooo,” Khrx said, patting each cow respectively.

“You named them?” Anaheim asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, they told me their names,” Khrx said, crossing his arms.

“…Can dragons talk to cows?”

“Nope,” Khrx said with a nod. He blinked and paused. Then he glanced down at the cows. “Hey. Do you two speak dragon?”

Both cows shook their heads.

“How about Rokean?”

The cows shook their heads again.

Khrx tilted his head. “Then how do I understand you two?”

“Aren’t you a druid?” Mooo asked while swallowing. “I can smell a lot of nature around you.”

Moomoo whispered, “You forgot to mention he smells like death too.”

Khrx stared before placing his hand on the brown cow’s head. “Let me try something.” He closed his eyes and tried to activate his skill, Nature’s Spirit. A second later, his vision returned, but he hadn’t opened his eyes. He saw an adorable child with cat ears, pressing a palm onto his face. Khrx deactivated the skill, and his vision turned black once again. He opened his eyes and removed his hand from the cow’s head. “Uh, Ana. Do skills carry over from [Resolution]? Cause mine did.”

Anaheim bit her lower lip. “I guess they do, since yours did…? Wait, I think Natasha was talking about that on her daily show.” She ran into the kitchen and turned up the volume on her radio.

“…and this isn’t an isolated case?” Natasha’s voice rang through the living room. “There’s been more people than just her who’ve experienced this as well?”

“That’s correct,” a male voice said. It wasn’t the self-proclaimed expert, Sam’s. “Like how our physical bodies influenced our avatars during creation, our avatars influence our physical bodies. It was in the tutorial. Stats gained inside [Resolution] are reflected in reality. It’s the same for skills. After all, what is a skill? It’s a technique, a way to manipulate mana, a chant to call upon a higher being. If we learn to do it in [Resolution], where the environment is exactly the same as reality, why couldn’t we do it in reality as well?”

“Isn’t this big news?”

“Judging by the number of forum posts online, you could call this breaking news. It’s even bigger than the moon turning black. Those who’ve been hesitating to join [Resolution] are definitely going to join now. If they don’t, they’ll fall behind their peers.”

“I agree.” Natasha cleared her throat. “Why don’t we move on to discussing the progress of the game? Compared to my previous self-proclaimed expert, you’re a lot more knowledgeable. What are your thoughts on the guild Paradise? Are they going to be the ones to win the game?”

“It’s too early to say, Natasha. Victory in the early game doesn’t guarantee victory in the endgame. It’s possible Paradise’s unique champion of the god buffs are tailored for the early game. It’s also possible Paradise sacrificed future gains for early game growth. While they might be the first to create an empire, they’re certainly not going to be the last. It’s hard to say whether or not they can increase their lead, especially since they’re a multinational guild. Their manpower can’t compare to a country. If the United States of Amireca decided to draft all their citizens into their guild, wouldn’t they be able to easily crush Paradise?”

“But six countries have already been thrown out of the running by Paradise. According to that system announcement, there’s only two weeks left before guild charters are removed from the game. Those countries who’ve had their bases wiped out have no chance at a comeback, not with the appearance of city-states. Anyone who hasn’t joined a guild is being marked as a barbarian. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but I was killed by a city-state because of my non-affiliation.”

“Even if six countries have been defeated by Paradise, there are still 294 left. I’m willing to bet my soul on Paradise losing the game. The final victor will be a country. The world has a higher chance of ending than Paradise has a chance of winning.”

“Don’t say such ominous things when the moon’s still not back to normal, Jordan. And now, a word from out sponsors.”

Anaheim turned off the radio. “See? Skills do carry over. Khrx?” She stepped out of the kitchen. Khrx had already entered [Resolution] using Anaheim’s VR drive when it was confirmed his skills carried over. The two cows were hiding behind him, glancing at Anaheim with eyes full of fear. Anaheim shook her head. “Mooo and Moomoo, huh? I never thought I’d have two pet cows.”